Is there a Control Chip Available

Thread Starter

george0039

Joined Oct 15, 2008
167
Hello

First, not sure what it might be called. I am trying to help a remote control boat club member. He has a 2.4ghz radio controlled Single row boat model. He was able to control the row through his transmitter with the proper stick command the row boat would move; forward, reverse, left, right or spin on the spot. Just like a real person operating the row boat. Then his control Circuit/Chip acted up and died. On this little circuit board he had his four servos plugged in. Two on each side to lift each oar and move it forward and down backwards to move the boat like a real row boat. The servos are there and setup for each movement, they need a controller that is controlled from his receiver plugged into this board and controlled from his radio.

Is there a Chip/circuit board out there that can do this so he can plug in his four servos into it and have his receiver plug into it so when he makes a stick command on his radio the proper servos will move, like a real row boat movement.

Even if it means that I have to program the board for the amount of travel of each servo and it`s speed.

Please let me know if there is such a device and a link please. Simplicity of use, if possible, would be appreciated as my skills are basic as well and his computer skills leave me asking you for this help.

Thanks for your Time and Help.

George
 

Thread Starter

george0039

Joined Oct 15, 2008
167
Hi mcgyvr

Thought of that before posting here BUT because this is an OLD Kit an LONG out of production, the chip/circuit board is NO longer available. Also the original maker is not available.

Next suggestion?

George
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Hello

Then his control Circuit/Chip acted up and died. On this little circuit board he had his four servos plugged in. Two on each side to lift each oar and move it forward and down backwards to move the boat like a real row boat.

Even if it means that I have to program the board for the amount of travel of each servo and it`s speed.
Hi George.

What you describe is called a "mixer" in RC terms. It mixes the servo channels to get the appropriate motion. A simple example is the mixer used for a V-tail airplane that mixes the elevator and rudder channels to get the proper controls. The V-tail mixer can be done relatively simply mechanically; although, all modern mixers I have seen do it with a microcontroller.

Your friend's case is more complicated and the "chip" you need is almost certainly a microcontroller that has been programmed.

The device should be simple to build. Its inputs are just 4 signals (probably) that vary from 1.0 to 2.0 mS depending on the control input from the transmitter. The hard part is to take those four signals and mix them to give to give the proper output to the four servos.

Can you get the program? It seems likely considering the niche market for such a model that the program may have been published in the relevant hobby magazines. Have you checked?

Once you have the program, you can probably find dozens of volunteers willing to burn it into the chip for you.

John
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
You can check why it "died". Try touching a soldering iron to all of the pin connections to melt and reflow them around the pin. You may have some oxidation or short on manual switches or limit switches. After all, it is a boat..., on water..., with lots of little areas for water to linger after each use...

Microcontrollers shouldn't randomly fail without cause. Look for other options besides a bad chip.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Haven't heard from the OP, but I was intrigued by the question. A search on "RC row boat" returns lots of hits. Unfortunately, most were older and many of the links therein do not work.

Here are two that sort of work:

Good general thread. Includes both mechanical and electronic solutions:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1284665

Commercial units for the signal mixing:
http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/electronic-mixer-units.html

One of the links showed a boat's interior with 4 servos and this controller board:
Capture.PNG

I wonder how close that picture is to the OP's device?

John
 

Thread Starter

george0039

Joined Oct 15, 2008
167
Hello Again

Well after reading the posts here. First, thank you for your help. No I can`t get view of the program that is in the chip. Yes I did try to resolder the chip and circuit board, no luck. Also the chip is pushed onto a chip socket and I checked the pins as well, no luck.

As for the picture of the circuit, Sorry not near what my friend has BUT since this one works, can you help me get in touch with the maker/seller?

Thanks
George
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
@george0039
Can you post pictures of the control board and servos in the boat? Does the chip on the control board have an identification on it?

John
 

Thread Starter

george0039

Joined Oct 15, 2008
167
Hello Everyone

Just letting you know that this has been resolved. My fiend found a U.K source for a new control board.

Thanks for ALL your help.

George
 
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